Johannesburg – The Joburg central business district will remain without electricity because tunnels carrying City Power cables through Bree Street have been damaged.
“The power supply will remain off in the Inner City following an explosion yesterday evening,” said City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena on Thursday.
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“The area is supplied from Bree substation, which is a few metres from the epicentre of the explosion and is suspected to have been affected,” said Mangena.
“The underground tunnels carrying City Power cables through Bree Street have been damaged during the cave-in.”
Mangena added: “The team is this morning continuing with the assessments of the extent of the damage on the electricity infrastructure, with the hope that we will access some of the surface and underground areas that we couldn’t access last night due to the risks involved.
“There are huge amounts of water gushing underground starting to flood Johnware Substation, which is about 4km towards Newtown.
“Colleagues from Joburg Water have been notified to assist and are currently on site.”
Mangena said power supply to the businesses and residents within the inner city will remain affected until an assessment is done and a go-ahead is given by emergency services to test and switch on.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused, and further updates will be given later in the day,” said Mangena.
